Method of Developing and Creating a Personalized Exercise Regime in a Digital Medium

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a method for selecting and modifying particular exercise videos from a stored database into a customized digital-format exercise regime viewable by an individual.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present invention claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No.60/863,120 as filed on Oct. 26, 2006.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not applicable.

NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not applicable.

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND ON THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a method for assessing anddeveloping a personalized exercise regime for an individual. Moreparticularly, the present invention includes a method for assessing anddeveloping an exercise regime for an individual wherein the exerciseregime is digitally arranged and supplied to the individual such thatthe digital exercise regime is personalized and the customized based onthe needs of the individual.

2. Description of the Related Art

Physical therapy routines for individuals are well known in the priorart and typically consist of a series of physical exercises. Thephysical therapy routines are usually prescribed and assigned to anindividual by physical therapists for rehabilitation from a diseaseand/or injury. In other situations, exercise trainers may develop andassign particular exercise regimes to individuals. When determining aproper physical routine for an individual, the physical therapist orexercise trainer should account for individual factors such as age,fitness level, medical history, any type of diseases or injury sufferedby the individual, as well as mobility and/or strength the individualmay be trying to attain.

Once the physical therapy routine or work routine is prescribed to theindividual, the physical therapist or exercise trainer must make surethe individual understands how to accomplish the associated physicalexercises. In order to accomplish this, the physical therapist orexercise trainer typically demonstrates the exercises to the individualand provides written instructions for subsequent reference for when thephysical therapist or exercise trainer is not around or available.However, this can be an inefficient use of the time of the physicaltherapist or exercise trainer. This is particularly true where timeconsuming or intricate exercises are involved. Further, even though theindividual may initially understand the entire exercise routine, theindividual may eventually forget how to properly perform certainexercises in the exercise routine over time.

Standardized videotapes and other well known similar technologies thatprovide a visual presentation of physical exercises for muscle tone andweight reduction are known in the prior art. These standardized visualpresentations, however, typically assume that the person viewing thevisual presentation and performing the exercises is a substantiallyhealthy person. Furthermore, they do not account for the age, fitnesslevel or physical malady of the individual that requires therapy.Moreover, for various reasons, other physical activities such asoccupational therapy, athletic training programs and yoga exercises aresubject to these same concerns.

Customized visual presentations of customized exercise regimes have alsoknown in the prior art, such as in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,971,972to McGovern et al. However, such prior customized exercise regimes areinadequate in preparing an individual to conduct particular exercises ina proper arrangement and motion. Further, such prior art presents eachexercise of a routine as a one-fits-all in so much as the exercise isrepresented and prescribed to an individual without association of theindividual's physical needs and/or limitations.

Thus, what is desired is a method of assessing, developing, andprescribing a customized exercise regime with assignable parametersassociated with the physical needs and limitations of the individual towhich the exercise regime is prescribed.

SUMMARY

The various exemplary embodiments of the present invention include amethod of creating a personalized exercise regime for an individual. Themethod is comprised of the steps of assessing an individual'sphysicality for body parts in need of improvement, therapy, or acombination thereof; reviewing a database via one or more computers, thedatabase being comprised of stored videos of physical exercise such thateach stored video presents a proper and substantially safe technique ofperforming a particular physical exercise; selecting one or more videosfrom the database, wherein the selected one or more videos areassociated with the individual's body parts in need of improvement,therapy, or a combination thereof; customizing one or more parameters ofthe selected one or more videos based upon the individual's need ofimprovement, therapy, or both; saving the selected and customized one ormore videos in a digital format; providing the saved one or more videosto the individual as an exercise regime; and prescribing that theindividual view and perform the exercise regime as presented in thesaved one or more videos.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, which willbecome more apparent as the description proceeds, are described in thefollowing detailed description in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention for developing a customized exercise regime for an individual.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart representing the exemplary embodiment illustratedin FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 an illustration of yet another exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention for developing a customized exercise regime for anindividual.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart representing the exemplary embodiment illustratedin FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention in which parameters of a particular exercise video aremodified.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention in which a particular exercise video may be edited.

FIG. 8 us an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention in which a particular exercise video may be shared with apersonal video player via an Internet server.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For purposes of discussion, the methods described herein relate to aphysical therapy or exercise routine, and the methods are accomplishedby a physical therapist or exercise trainer. It is to be appreciated,however, that other types of work and exercise routines are alsocontemplated for use with the present invention. As such, for brevity,the term “exercise regime” as used herein refers to a variety ofphysical movements including, for example, a particular set ofexercises, dance and choreography, movements in the manufacturing field,ergonomics in the workplace, and the like.

The present invention presents a method for substantially improvingcompliance of a home-based, i.e., not in the presence of a therapist ortrainer, physical exercise regimen. Individuals are more likely tocomply with home-based physical exercise regimen if the individual isable to choose or gravitate into a physical exercise practice thatappeals to the individual.

While there are similarities between physical therapists in general,each regime, therapist or trainer may subscribe to different physicaltherapy philosophies and/or theories. The various exemplary embodimentsof present invention attempt to provide an individual-specific exerciseroutine in a visually perceptible digital format as a means to improvecompliance of a home-based physical therapy regimen.

In the various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, anindividual is preferably assessed by a trained expert, for example, aphysical therapist, exercise trainer, or other exercise designer, todetermine the individual's physical limitations, needs, and abilities.In other exemplary embodiments, the individual may assess one's ownphysical limitations, needs, and abilities.

For example, a person having undergone hip replacement surgery wouldpreferably consult with a trained physical therapist soon after surgeryto have the individual's abilities determined, such as, for example,range of motion of the hip.

Upon physically assessing the individual, the physical therapistaccesses and reviews a stored digital database of videos relating to avariety of physical activities, exercises, therapies, or a combinationthereof. The stored digital database may be stored and accessed via oneor more computers or via the Internet.

In the various exemplary embodiments, the digital database of videosshows particular exercises from which a therapist or trainer may choose.Each particular exercise may be shown as actual digital footage of aperson conducting the particular exercise, as animated illustrations, oras a combination thereof.

In a preferred embodiment, each particular exercise is viewable by atleast three varying angles. Varying the viewing angle of the particularexercise allows an individual viewing the particular exercise to betterensure proper movement that should be mimicked.

It is noteworthy to point out that therapists and trainers may desireexercises shown by various types of actors, backgrounds, and auditorysensory information. As such, particular exercises may include variousversions showing the exercises properly performed by a variety ofpersons, for example, of different races, ages, body types, and thelike.

In the various exemplary embodiments, the stored database iselectronically stored in one or more computers, and each video of thedatabase may be categorized based on body parts or movements emphasizedin the exercise on the video. In exemplary embodiments, each video ofthe database may be categorized based one or more of calories exerted;equipment used; function; muscle groups; body position, that is, forexample, standing, sitting, laying down, and the like;

After assessing the individual and accessing the digital database, thephysical therapist selects videos of those exercises deemed by thephysical therapist to be most advantageous to the physical improvementof the individual.

Each video is comprised of one or more parameters that may be modifiedby the physical therapist.

These one or more parameters may include, for example, exerciserepetitions, one or more particular exercise pause or holding durations,daily exercise sets, speed of performing a particular exercise, amountof weight to be used by the individual in performing the particularexercise of the regime, background music, audio exercise instruction,text exercise instruction, audio instructional language of choice, textinstructional language of choice, exercise equipment to be used, textfor additional precaution that may need to be taken, days of the week toperform particular exercises of the regime, and the like.

In an exemplary embodiment, the voice of a trainer may be recorded toplay in conjunction with the particular exercise. In another variation,a trainer may include his/her own recorded video of one or moreparticular exercises. This allows for more personalized video creation.

In a preferred embodiment, each particular exercise is viewable from atleast three varying angles to allow an individual viewing the exerciseto better ensure proper associated movement.

The one or more parameters may also include an angle of viewing theexercise. The exercise videos may be captured and stored in a variety ofangles for better viewing and understanding of the proper way to performthe particular exercise. In an exemplary embodiment, each exercise isreviewable from at least two distinct viewing angles.

The one or more parameters may be customized for each individual basedupon the associated physical needs, limitations, and the like.

For example, the physical therapist may customize the parameters of aparticular sit-up exercise such that the movement of the person in thevideo is at a speed and/or count rate desired by the therapist. Further,the therapist may set a particular position of the movement as a holdposition for a desired amount of time. Thus, the individual to which theexercises are prescribed would mimic the movement of the exercise on thevideo at the same speed and hold position as desired by the therapist.

Upon customizing the selected exercise videos, the customized exercisesare preferably stored in a digital format as an exercise regime forviewing by the individual. The digital forms may include a digitalversatile disc (DVD); personal video player video, including, forexample, mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDA), in theform of MP3, MPEG4, or any other similar format; streaming Internetvideo; or other similar digital format, including high resolutionvariations of the above, allowing viewing by the individual.

In the various exemplary embodiments, a digital document format may beprovided to the individual. Such digital document format may be in theform of, for example, HTML or PDF, and include still-frame images of thecustomized exercises from the videos. Such framed pictures may include,for example, particular positions and movements to be mimicked.

In storing the customized exercises in digital format, the informationmay be personalized for the individual to indicate the individual'sname, the date, the therapist's name, clinic location and phone number,or a combination thereof.

The customized exercise videos stored to digital format for theindividual is then provided to the individual such that the exerciseregime set forth in the digital format is prescribed to the individualto perform.

It is preferred that prior to starting the exercise regime, thenecessary equipment is identified so that an individual may gather allthe equipment together prior to starting the exercise regime.

As the individual performs the exercise regime, the individual may viewthe exercises in any desired speed and/or pause the exercise to betterascertain the proper movements associated with a particular exercise.The individual may also view the remaining number of repetitions and theremaining duration of pause. The individual may also choose music fromthe selection music tracks already imbedded with the DVD or othersimilar video method, audio track language of their choices, andsubtitle texts.

In exemplary embodiments, an individual can compare and/or contrasttheir own history of physical performance and/or physical abilities withthe known history of physical performance and/or physical abilities ofone or more particular celebrities and/or particular professionals.Further, the individual may compare their abilities to a standardhealthy person of their own age and gender. Such comparison and contrastgives an individual a better concept of how regular routines or actualactivities are or should be performed for particular benefits.

Thus, for example, a person viewing a particular exercise showingpush-ups may compare the number of push-ups he/she does to the number ofpush-ups an army recruit does in basic training. A person liftingweights for a particular exercise may compare the weight and number ofrepetitions that they are doing to what Arnold Schwarzenegger does.

In another exemplary embodiment, graphical representations may beprovided showing the muscle groups and/or joints exercised, caloriesexerted, etc. Such reporting will be tallied for the particular exerciseregime. Such reporting of activity by an individual can be used tocompare the individual against past performance as well as comparisonagainst other known individuals.

In a preferred embodiment, single exercise movements may be combined toform a single cohesive movement to be viewed and mimicked by anindividual. This is particularly instructive in choreography wherein theexercise regime may be a series of single dance movements that arecombined together to create a single dance. Such combination ofexercises is analogous to combining the letters of the alphabet intowords and then sentences. Thus, in such embodiment, a choreographer ortrainer can identify from the database a number of movements to beperformed in a particular substantially seamless order.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present method ofdeveloping a customized DVD, personal video player videos, and Internetstreaming and downloadable videos for an individual. As shown in theexemplary illustration, a therapist or user accesses a database ofexercises via a computer to customize and create a desired exerciseregime for an individual.

FIG. 2 illustrates a more detailed flowchart of another exemplaryembodiment of the present invention. In this exemplary flowchart, atherapist or user first selects exercises for an individual from astored exercise database. The user selects these exercises, for example,via a user interface program in the software or similar means. Inselecting the exercises, the user may access and use predetermined orcustomized templates. Such templates may be modified to reflect relevantinformation regarding the associated therapist, individual, exerciseregime, date, and the like. Each exercise of the database is comprisedof at least a single repetition of the particular exercise from at leasta single viewing angle. Preferably, there are upwards of three or fourviewing angles for each particular exercise. Via the software, the usermay choose which viewing angle is most advantageous for the associatedindividual and particular exercise. The user modifies the parameters ofeach selected particular exercise. The modified, selected particularexercises are then concatenated to construct a customized exerciseregime, which then may be transferred to a medium of choice of the user.In this instance, the exercise regime is transferred to a DVD.

FIG. 3 shows a different flowchart outlining the exemplary methodillustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is another flowchart showing an exemplary embodiment similar tothat represented in FIG. 2. However, in FIG. 4, the exercise regime istransferred to a personal video player, such as, for example, an ipod®by Apple Computers, or streamed and downloadable via the Internet.

As shown in FIG. 8, a personal video player may be connected to anInternet server through which an individual's trainer may upload a newset of exercises which are then downloaded to the personal video player.The personal video player identified whether or not a video has beenviewed, even only partially viewed. Thus, a trainer may check anindividual's personal video player to ensure that an individual at leastviewed the particular exercises assigned in the video.

In addition to allowing a trainer to manually check an individual'spersonal video play, in an exemplary embodiment, the present inventionincludes a feedback loop that automatically conveys to the trainer viasoftware and the Internet whether or not a particular individual hasviewed his/her respective video. Such feedback loop may provide a “yes”or “no” response identifying whether or not the video has been viewed.In an exemplary embodiment, the feedback loop also identifies the amountof the video viewed; that is, for example, if only five out ofthirty-five minutes have been viewed. In another exemplary embodiment,such feedback loop is not automatic and must be authorized by theindividual prior to being conveyed to the trainer.

FIG. 5 shows a different flowchart outlining the exemplary methodillustrated in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 illustrates video concatenation process of a single particularexercise set from video exercise database with parameters provided bythe user according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.Via the software, one or more viewing angles are selected for theexercise video. The user parameters of selected particular exercisevideos are customized by the user via a segment editor and a segmentsequencer. Such parameters may include, for example, repetitions of anexercise, pause time, text instruction, etc. Then, with a segmentsequencer, the software sets the sequence of selected and customizedparticular exercise videos. The user may also include particular audiotracks with the selected and customized exercises, and then the exerciseregime is finalized.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary method by which a user may edit aparticular exercise video. As shown in FIG. 7, once a particularexercise video is selected from the database, default exerciseparameters are reviewed by the user. The user may then edit theparameters as desired. For example, if the user would prefer that thespeed of the exercise shown in the exercise video to be faster, thespeed is increased by way of the associated computer calculating andremoving a necessary number of frames. Likewise, the user may manipulatea pause or hold time of the exercise shown in the exercise video.

Although the above description is explained primarily through aparticular set of exercises, it should be understood that the samesystem and method may be used for other physical movements as well,including, for example, dance and choreography, movements in themanufacturing field, ergonomics in the workplace, and the like.

While this invention has been described in conjunction with the specificembodiments outlined above, it is evident that many alternatives,modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in theart. Accordingly, the preferred embodiments of the invention as setforth above are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Variouschanges may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

1. A method of creating a personalized exercise regime for anindividual; the method comprised of the steps of: assessing anindividual's physicality for body parts in need of improvement, therapy,or a combination thereof; reviewing a database via one or morecomputers, the database being comprised of stored videos of physicalexercise such that each stored video presents a proper and substantiallysafe technique of performing a particular physical exercise; selectingone or more videos from the database, wherein the selected one or morevideos are associated with the individual's body parts in need ofimprovement, therapy, or a combination thereof; customizing one or moreparameters of the selected one or more videos based upon theindividual's need of improvement, therapy, or both; saving the selectedand customized one or more videos in a digital format; providing thesaved one or more videos to the individual as an exercise regime; andprescribing that the individual view and perform the exercise regime aspresented in the saved one or more videos.
 2. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the parameters are selected from a group consisting ofexercise repetitions, exercise holding duration, daily exercise sets,speed of performing a particular exercise, amount of weight to be usedby the individual, background music, audio exercise instruction, textualexercise instruction, audio instructional language, textual exerciseinstructional language, exercise equipment to be used, noted additionalcautions to be taken while performing the exercise, days of the week toperform the exercise, and a combination thereof.
 3. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein a trainer may record his/her voice to giveinstruction in conjunction with the particular exercise.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein a trainer may include his/her own recordedvideo to play for one or more particular exercises.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the one or more videos may be presentedwith multiple viewing angles.
 6. The method according to claim 5,wherein the one or more videos may be present with at least threeviewing angles.
 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the one ormore videos includes actual filmed digital footage, animatedillustrations, or a combination thereof.
 8. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the saved one or more videos further comprisesinformation regarding the individual, information regarding thetherapist, date of creation, or a combination thereof.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the stored videos of physical exercise mayhave various versions showing exercises performed by a variety ofpersons of different races, ages, or body types.
 10. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the stored videos in the database arecategorized based upon calories exerted in the particular exercise,equipment used in the respective exercise, function of the respectiveexercise, muscle groups trained in the respective exercise, jointsutilized in the respective exercise, body position to perform therespective exercise, or a combination thereof.
 11. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein instruction is provided to the individual prior tostarting an exercise regime to identify the equipment necessary toperform the exercise regime.
 12. The method according to claim 1,wherein the digital format may be selected from the group consisting ofDVD, personal video player videos, and Internet steaming anddownloadable videos, and a combination thereof.
 13. The method accordingto claim 12, wherein if the digital format is downloaded to a personalvideo player, the personal video player may automatically communicatewith the trainer via the Internet to identify whether or not aparticular exercise regime has been viewed by the individual.
 14. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein an individual may view the savedone or more videos at any desired speed.
 15. The method according toclaim 1, wherein an individual may compare and/or contrast his/her ownphysical history of performance and/or physical abilities with the knownphysical performance and/or physical abilities of celebrities,professionals, a healthy individual of similar age and gender, or acombination thereof.
 16. The method according to claim 1, whereinreports may be provided to the individual identifying the muscle groupsand joints exercised, calories exerted, and a combination thereof. 17.The method according to claim 1, wherein single exercises may becombined together as a substantially cohesive movement for an individualto review and mimic.
 18. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising providing the individual with digital document formatstill-frame images of particular positions or movements of thecustomized one or more videos.